Beautiful Spunky Sparkly Gretchy Girl!

Gretch, lovingly raised by Kristina and Judy Logan and Kathy Hawkins, was according to them,  “the perfect puppy!” So who am I to argue. My first memory of Gretch is sitting on the floor in my room at GDB with my new little yellow labby girl curiously nibbling at the rhinestones on my jeans. I kept that pair forever, but the Gretchy Girl never did that particular cute thing again. Gretch had enough sparkle and spunk that she didn’t need any denim bling to work her magic. Gretch had adventures, like chasing wild turkeys on a deserted beach in Molokai and rolling in Norwegian cow (don’t know that word in Norwegian). Gretch enjoyed showing off her tricks, including ringing my back door bells when she wanted to go out and turning somersaults in my lap finishing big with lots of tail wagging and ankle biting. Those were my ankles.

I will never forget when I returned home from a clicker workshop and was trying to clicker train my cat to play the piano. Gretch became impatient, deciding to show everyone what was required by jumping up and loudly planting her front paws on the thunderous bass keys. From then on,  it was a good idea to keep the lid down unless I wanted an impromptu concert. Gretch grew into her job as a guide while always doing little extras for me like locating Roomba when it didn’t return to its home base and on more than one occasion, locating mittens dropped in snow. She loved jumping up for elevator buttons and APS poles. My little tax day retriever retired just shy of her eleventh birthday when I brought Paxton home. 

She went on to enjoy a life of leisure with the cat and two much younger working male lab guides, to whom she became very attached, adding cougar to her resume. Gretch enjoyed being top dog, getting fed before the guys and going in and out first. Gretch’s journey into old age was peaceful, with her fifteenth birthday representing a satisfying high point two months ago. Her last morning will always be imprinted on my heart, as we enjoyed the gift of one final breakfast she got to start on before the boys  and one final treasured grooming session, where if only briefly, Gretch lifted her front paws for me. Gretch was my fifth guide dog, and she was my favorite, as all of the others have been and will continue to be. Rest in peace, my beautiful spunky sparkly little Gretchy Girl!

Sheila with Paxton